I'll admit, when I first heard the title of this best-selling book, I, as a black man, was taken aback. I scoffed at the notion that anyone could attempt to make a sound case for comparing the atrocious Jim Crow segregation laws of the 50s and 60s with today's –...
It's true: the American criminal justice system is not broken — it's doing exactly what it is designed to do. Far gone are the days when the only things that distinguished prisons from college campuses were the barbed-wired fences, gun towers, and . . . oh yeah, the...
After a while, even the horrid conditions of prison become normal to its occupants. Waking up everyday in a concrete cell, being told when you can shower, use the phone, or even use the bathroom eventually fall into place as routine. No big deal — it just is. I...
I cannot tell you how many times I've been on the phone while regrettably being forced to listen to another inmate on the phone next to me scold his girlfriend or mother for not doing something he had asked them to do. "Why haven't you sent the money? . . . you said...
We often hear of the exorbitant costs to operate prisons. State budgets are stretched thin and perpetually strained in order to incarcerate tens of thousands of people, for many years at a time. But other costs are absorbed by the casualties of incarceration that...
Fascinating. Riveting. Provocative. The list of superlatives to describe this book could go on for pages. Johanson - the famed archeologist who discovered the 3.2 million-year-old hominid (human ancestry) fossil - has written a book for the ages with this one. This...
This past Friday (also known as Good Friday) I volunteered to work in the visiting room. I'd been asked--along with several others--to man the table set up with freshly brewed coffee, assorted flavors of creamer, sugar, tea, instant cocoa, and all the utensils...
What keeps me going is knowing that I'll be able to talk to my fiancee by phone everyday. Prior to coming to prison, I didn't value the simple pleasure of communicating with someone about daily routine activities, our thoughts, concerns, and everything in...
This book was enjoyable from multiple standpoints. It was engaging and personable. It was compelling and sad. In short, it evoked a range of emotions that made it a memorable read. The author, Wes Moore, keeps his readers engrossed by juxtaposing his story--beginning...
Perhaps the number one goal humans pursue is love, but coming in at a very close second has to be the pursuit to find meaning; to devote oneself to a purpose that validates their existence in some way. This 150-page book depicts in great detail, page after page, how...